


Fantasy or Reality?

by Xx-NicoliaMalin-xX (YukkiAnMalin)



Category: Ib (Video Game)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe (Time skip), Dark Character, Dreams and Nightmares, Family, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Hatred, Horror, I have terrible naming sense, Jealousy, Never ending Hiatus Breaks, Original Characters - Freeform, Possible Character Death, Possible Romance, Spoiler for those who never played the game, i don't even know what i'm doing, i'm bored so i write this, maybe out of character because it's been ten years
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-16
Updated: 2017-07-04
Packaged: 2018-01-19 23:53:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 17,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1488841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YukkiAnMalin/pseuds/Xx-NicoliaMalin-xX
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ten years have passed since Ib and Garry left the gallery, yet, none of them remembers anything. All they know are the dreams they get of a strange gallery. Will they find each other once again through strange means? Or will they forget about each other completely now that their dreams are over? Based on Memories Crannies ending. Currently on hiatus - Busy with my terrible life</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. His Paintings and Her Stories

**Author's Note:**

> Note: This takes place ten years after the "Memory Crannies" ending. Enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This is my first story that I wrote by myself and post it to the public. So do be nice about the reviews. And if you are willing, check out the other stories we(YukkiAnMalin) have!
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing

 

* * *

**Chapter 1 - His Paintings and Her Stories**  
  
I sighed as I closed my laptop shut. The clock on the wall read 11:00 PM in a bright red light. "One more hour before my 19th birthday..." I mumbled to myself in the dimly lit room. I had been working on a novel that was due to be published tomorrow, it was a novel that was based on my dreams.

"I wonder if I'll have a dream today." I wondered out loud as I walked over to my bed. Ever since the day I visited the Guertena exhibition with my parents ten years ago, I had been having dreams every night of a twisted gallery, a gallery with barely any lights and narrow, long corridors, littered with various paintings and nameplates.

All of those dreams felt very realistic, almost as if it did happen, but the strange thing was, could such a thing really happen? Paintings couldn't move, and the Guertena exhibition that I remembered wasn't as dimly lit as the ones in my dreams.

Last night, I probably dreamed the ending of my adventures through the twisted gallery. Together with my companion, a purple haired jumpy teenage male, we went through the painting that looked like the real world, the one I recognize, the one I'm living in now.

In the dreams, I was still nine years old. The way I spoke, walked, and dressed, all of them were exactly the same as the time I was a kid. I remembered finding my companion lying on the ground, on the verge of death, that was how we first met. And somehow, no matter how many times I had called out to him in my dreams, I could never remember his name whenever I woke up.

But I knew, this man, no matter how much of a coward he was, no matter how much he screamed and ran whenever something happened, I knew, if he was not there, I would've never, ever, made it alive out of those adventures, even if they were a dream.

I looked at the bedside table. On it, rested my diary, in which for the past ten years, I have written everything of my dreams the moment I woke up. I opened it, read through it for the last time, before I put it back where it belonged and turned off the table lamp.

"Tomorrow...these words-"

* * *

**(different person's point of view)**

As I made the final stroke of paint on the canvas, I took in a deep breath as I stepped back to examine the painting.

It depicted two people, a young girl with light brown hair and red skirt, together with a younger teenage version of myself, standing in front of a very long painting that showed a white gallery exhibition, bursting with life.

I stretched, trying to relax my stiff muscles from working all day in my atelier, I have been doing this every since I started getting dreams from my visit to the Guertena exhibition ten years ago.

I don't know why I paint out as much as I can from my dreams, but some part of me just does it. No matter how I try to put it away, try to leave my atelier and forget about painting those dreams, my legs guide me automatically to the atelier, my hands move on it's own on the canvas, every stroke describing my dreams, to a normal person, it'd look like I was being possessed by a demon and was trying to fight it off.

Those dreams were always a wonder to me, it felt so real, I first thought I wasn't dreaming. I thought the fact I was walking down a long stairwell of red steps and walls were real, I thought I was really going to die when a lady in a blue blue dress with brown hair that had half of her body crawling out of a painting took my rose and started tearing the petals apart. Each petal that fell to the ground hurt so much, it was almost as though I had a heart attack.

The girl I met in my adventures, I could never remember her name, not even now, no matter how many times I had painted her in this atelier. But I knew one thing, she was the one who gave me the will to carry on living in the twisted gallery, if I hadn't felt the intense need to protect that fragile girl who acted strong, I'd probably lost my life, and I didn't like the idea of that, even if it was only a dream.

I took the painting from the easel and placed it on top of a stack of paintings, where the rest of my paintings of those dreams were.

"Tomorrow...these paintings-"

* * *

**(Both's point of view)**

"-will be shown to the world."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review! It's my first story i'm doing alone~  
> To be continued!


	2. Suspicion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Enjoy the story! I own nothing but my...um...plot. *Sobs because I can't say craziness anymore*
> 
> If there's any mistakes feel free to PM/Leave a review about it and I'll fix it ASAP!
> 
> Oh btw! Since there is barely information about Garry, every information of Garry in this story that has not been confirmed in-game or by Kouri is made up by me.
> 
> I hope you don't mind OCs in this story as there will be at least 3 that play a major role in here.

 

* * *

**Chapter 2 - Suspicion**

**Garry's POV**

It's been a few months since Garry stopped having dreams of the gallery, as well as since he opened the exhibition to showcase his work to this city with the help of his friend. So far, the reviews and critiques have been good, most of them commenting on how they like the surreal feeling of each painting, they were also very curious about the young companion Garry drew in the paintings. Often asking questions such as who that girl was, and how old she was.

As compared to the "Garry" he painted in his paintings, he now had slightly longer hair, as he forgot to get his hair cut. His eyes looked more tired as compared to before...and his fashion was still as weird as ever.

Garry smiled to himself as he finally reached his apartment building. It was a modest sized apartment with two bedrooms and decent furnishing.  _"Finally..."_  He thought to himself as he turned the keys on the lock, he had just came home from another day at the exhibition, listening to people's reviews and critiques.

He was surprised to see the house entirely dark, empty and quiet, which was not the usual case when he got home around this time. "Leanne? Max? Are you home?" He called out to the house as he took off his shoes and switched on some of the lights, lifting up the gloomy atmosphere a little.

No response came from the home, which meant he was alone. He sighed, happy to have the whole house to himself as he trudged towards the couch and sloppily plopped himself onto it. He lazily reached for the remote control and turned on the television.

At first, Garry wasn't listening or watching, just staring at the screen as the colors of the screen reflected into his half open, sleepy eyes. Trying to find something to do to stay awake, he took out his cigarette pack and took out a smoke out, lighting it up.

When he looked back at the screen, something caught his attention. There was a young girl, around her twenties, smiling at the camera as she sat down to be interviewed by the show host.

"...this girl looks familiar!" He shouted, almost forgetting he was having a smoke in his mouth and nearly dropping it on the ground, thankfully, he caught it between his fingers without burning himself.

"Miss Ib, tell us more about yourself!" The show host cheerfully questioned in a polite manner.

The young lady smiled at her nervously and started talking, "I'm just an ordinary girl...really."

"But your story has really caught the attention of many others! It's become a bestseller now hasn't it?"

Ib giggled, "I wouldn't call that a story I wrote. It's just a collection of things that I  _had_  to write down. All I did was write in details what I dreamt, and published it into a book."

"Why did you choose to publish it?"

"Because...I was hoping it would get the story off my mind." Ib replied with a slight smile, her eyes were casted down now, as if avoiding eye contact with anyone.

"Why would you want to do that? It's such a great story." The host questioned with curiosity.

Ib hesitated before she replied, "That story...makes me sad when I think about it, especially about that gentleman who accompanied me throughout the entire journey. If all that really did happen, then...wouldn't our friendship have been lost over nothing?"

Garry was too absorbed into staring at the young lady who spoke, he felt that he knew this woman, yet he  _just knew_  he had never met this woman face to face, how could he? She looked at least 10 _years_  younger than him!

"GARRY! ARE YOU SMOKING IN THE HOUSE AGAIN?!" A loud voice scolded from the front door, scaring Garry and nearly causing him to fall forward and hit the glass coffee table. He turned around to see Leanne, his sister, holding onto the hand of his 14 year old brother along with many bags of groceries.

"How many times, have I told you  _again, and again_ , that you are  _not_  to smoke in the house?!" Leanne shouted exasperatedly, her voice booming and echoing in the tiny apartment. She nearly slammed the bag of groceries on the kitchen counter as she glared at Garry.

Max was trying not to choke over the smell of smoke in the house, he quickly ran out to get some fresh air. "Sis Leanne! It stinks!" He complained.

"S-sorry...Um..." Garry apologized, quickly snuffing out the cigarette on an ash tray and opening the windows as wide as he could.

Leanne sighed, "Why are you  _still_  smoking? Didn't I tell you countless times to quit? It's not good for you and you should know that well."

"Well...it's easier said than done..." Garry murmured, pretending to be busy by turning on the fan to ventilate the room.

"Garry...why do you smoke? It stinks up the whole house...and it's hard to breathe in too. What's so good about smoking?" Max asked innocently. Although he was 14, he was a very naive young boy.

Garry paused, "T-that's um...ahh...er...I..." Garry stuttered, unsure of what to say.

"Does it taste good? Can I try?" Max took a small step towards the house, but was suddenly pushed out by Leanne. "No! Don't even think of touching that stuff! It's bad! It tastes horrible too!" Leanne exclaimed.

"Then why does Garry still put it in his mouth?"

"Because he  _thinks_  it's good." Leanne irritatedly muttered. "Anyway, don't ever try it, it's not good for you at all." She ordered sternly.

"Okay!" Max replied cheerfully, "Does it still smell bad?"

"I don't think so...most of the smell should be gone by now..." Garry said when he finished spraying some air freshener around the room, he was still feeling guilty for having not quit smoking yet, especially when he looked into the curious eyes of Max and the hurt expression on Leanne.

Max excitedly ran into the house, taking out an art piece and showing it off to Garry. "How does it look?" He asked, barely able to keep still.

Garry smiled as he took the art piece. It was a drawing of Garry, Max and Leanne cuddling together with a huge grin, and it wasn't some amateur artwork either, it was quite a good art piece. He patted Max on the head lovingly, "It's wonderful." he complimented the piece. "May I have it? I'd like to put it in my room."

"Okay! Leanne has one copy of it as well so you can have this copy!" Max replied happily, Leanne sighed with affection at the sight. "You should learn to be a good role model you know." She commented.

"Well I _am_  trying to quit...But it hasn't been that easy..." Garry muttered, looking away guiltily. Leanne started to lecture Garry, but most of it went out the other ear of Garry's as usual. Max meanwhile went to entertain himself with the television.

Garry stared at the bags of items Leanne left on the table while Leanne slowly removed the items from the bags while still rambling on and on, not noticing that Garry wasn't paying attention.

 _"Hmm...Biscuits...some other snacks...vegetables...chicken...a bag of rice...boring things..._ " Garry listed the items being taken out from the bag in his mind. When Leanne was done with putting the items into the fridge, she took out a book from her personal bag, still lecturing Garry and looking at him in the eye now.

Garry's attention was instead on the book, where he found an illustration of a young girl sleeping soundly on a bed.

"Hey! Are you listening?!" Leanne snapped her fingers and shouted to get his attention.

"Huh? Oh oh yeah! I'm listening." Garry lied, his eyes were still focused on the book, something about it bothered him.

Leanne's eyes followed Garry's line of sight. "Oh this book? It's the latest bestseller, I think the author was called... Ib or something like that. Weird name," Leanne shrugged, she was about to continue talking when she suddenly felt Garry's hands on her shoulders.

"Please lend me that book!" Garry pleaded desperately. "Please! I'll finish it quickly! I won't damage it or anything!" Max turned his attention from the television, showing some kind of ridiculous cartoon, to look at Garry and Leanne with interest.

Leanne stepped back in surprise, she wasn't expecting Garry to suddenly attack her just because of a book, especially when all her life, she'd only seen him interested in paintings. "Um..." She blinked, trying to get her mind working again, "Sure...take it if you want... I've finished this already..."

"Thank you Leanne!" Garry smiled cheerfully as he took the book from Leanne and sat down to read it immediately. Leanne raised her eyebrows at him, "Were you always so interested in books?" She questioned.

Garry didn't respond to her, he was already absorbed in reading with just the first page. Leanne shrugged and let it slide, focusing her attention instead on making dinner, with the help of Max, who volunteered cheerfully.

* * *

**Ib's POV**

Ib sighed with fatigue as she threw herself on her soft and comfortable warm bed. Her mother chuckled at the sight, "Tired, honey?" She asked.

Ib gave a small nod. "There was a huge crowd for the autograph signing today...a lot of people came...a lot of things were to be signed...And after that there was that live interview...did you watch it?"

"Of course! I promised to give you all the support I could in whatever career path you chose right?" Her mother said with a smile as she gently sat herself on the edge of the bed, careful not to disturb Ib as she gently brushed aside some of her hair lovingly.

"You were great on television Ib. I'm very proud of you." Ib heard her father's familiar loving voice from the door.  
  
"Thanks." She replied. Her father smiled as he thought of how she was like when she was younger, she was a very quiet and reserved girl, often staring out into space, being an airhead and at the same time, smart girl.

The Ib before his eyes now was a matured woman, one who was kind and caring, generous and not as reserved as before. Not only had Ib matured mentally, she had matured physically as well into a beautiful woman.

"Well it's getting late now...get some good rest, tomorrow we'll bring you anywhere you want to as a celebration." Her mother softly whispered as she gave Ib a soft peck on the forehead and turned off the lights for her, slowly closing the door so as to minimize any amount of noize.

Ib slowly closed her eyes, although her body was tired, she was not in any state to go to bed yet. Something had been bothering her the entire day.

While she was signing autographs after autographs on fan's various items such as their books, shirts or and other weird things, she caught a glimpse of a familiar building.

It was nothing extraordinary eye catching at first sight, anyone walking by it might just ignore it as an ordinary and boring building. However, the more she looked at the building, the more she felt like she knew the building very well.

Just exactly what was that building? She was sure she had never stepped foot into such a building before and unfortunately from where she was, she couldn't see what kind of building it was. Maybe it was some building her parents used to work in and brought her along when she was young. But she highly doubted that. Maybe she'll check it out tomorrow.

As she continued to think about that mysterious building, she slowly fell into deep sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that's chapter two for now! Hope you enjoyed it! I kind of rushed to type this as fast as possible(which was a short while since I can type crazily fast) because I was very excited and I had a small idea of what I should do for this.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed~
> 
> TBC


	3. (_)(_)(_)(_)'(_) (_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Here's chapter 3~ with a title you've gotta decipher yourself~ (In case you were wondering, nope, it's not a bug. It's on purpose)
> 
> Enjoy! As usual I own nothing~~
> 
> Ib: What are you going to do with the game if you owned it?
> 
> Me: ...play it over and over again.
> 
> Garry: That's no different from not owning it isn't it?!
> 
> Me: Oh. And I'd make sure to humiliate Garry as much as possible.
> 
> Garry: WHAT?!
> 
> Me: *Evil snicker* Better watch out~

 

* * *

**Chapter 3 - (_)(_)(_)(_)'(_) (_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)**

**Ib's POV**

Ib had gotten out of bed at late morning, which was unusual for the young lady who usually strictly woke up at 7 when her alarm rings, today however, even with the alarm ringing annoyingly, she did not wake up, of course her parents wasn't able to wake her up for they knew she was extremely tired and they did not have the heart to disturb her peaceful rest.

Ib was currently seated in her parent's car at the back seat with her mother at her side. She looked out the window and thought about what her parents had said about the building that bothered her last night.

* * *

 

_"Here, have some tea honey." Her mother put a cup of tea in front of Ib as a late breakfast. Ib smiled and thanked her. "Where do you want to go today?" She asked cheerfully._

_Ib took a sip of tea before answering, "There's this building nearby where I had my signing yesterday. That building bothers me. Can we check it out?"_

_Ib's father frowned slightly, "What does that building look like?"_

_"It's a plain building with no special features like signs from where I could see...I think it's at least 2 stories high. It's the only white building there so it should be easy to spot." Ib described the building with as much detail as she could remember._

_Her mother's already cheerful demeanour lighted up further, "You must be talking about the exhibition site!"_

_"Exhibition site?" Ib questioned with confusion._

_"That building you spoke of, I think it's this artist...what's his name..." her mother started to mumble various other names as she tried to recall the artist's name, finally she remembered, "Garry!"_

_Ib's eyes lit up with surprise at the name. "That's the recent artist who shot up to fame with only one exhibition right?"_

_"Exactly! That exhibition that brought him to fame is the exact one you wanted to go to. Do you still want to go?" Her mother asked._

_"Yeah. It's been a long time since I've visited a gallery." Ib replied with a smile as she finished her drink._

_"Looks like Ib still loves art even after becoming a writer." Her father joked as he got out the car keys._

* * *

 

"Ib? We've arrived." Ib's mother softly spoke as she gently patted Ib's shoulder. Ib had fallen asleep while daydreaming in the car.

"Here...Where...?" Ib mumbled as she sleepily rubbed the fatigue away from her eyelids, trying to get herself awake again.

Her mother chuckled, "The exhibition. You're still tired aren't you?" She asked with concern.

"Just a little, I'll survive an exhibition don't worry." Ib joked as she got off the car with her mother. She turned to look at her father, expecting him to say something like go ahead I'll be right after you, but instead he wound down the window and said, "I've gotta pick up another little princess, see you later!"

"Little princess...?" Ib repeated in her mind. "Maybe he's talking about aunt or something..." she muttered, still feeling too tired to think about anything but staying awake and keeping her mother company.

Ib caught up to her mother, who had walked ahead of her, into the gallery's entrance, which was as plain looking as the outside of the building. Upon passing through the door, their way was blocked by a reception desk and a red rope that could easily be removed to allow entry or exit. Behind the reception was an old lady who had a friendly smile, "May I see your tickets?" She asked.

After getting pass the reception, Ib absentmindedly walked towards the first painting in sight, her mother who was right behind her, gasped in respect and admiration when she saw the artwork. It was a painting of a young man with unkempt purple hair that had a few dark streaks blended in his hair, along with a tattered and worn down navy blue coat, staring at a colorful and large abstract painting.

Both the abstract painting and the young man of the picture were familiar looking to her, absentmindedly Ib muttered, "I feel like I've seen this man before. Face to face."

Her mother frowned suspiciously, "Have you really? I don't think either your father or I've ever introduced such a man to you."

"I don't know. It just feels like it." Ib responded with a shrug and moved onto the next painting.

After looking through a few paintings Ib's mother excused herself to find a washroom, leaving Ib alone to explore the rest of the gallery until she came back. Ib had made it to the 2nd floor at this point, only a few other paintings were left for her to see.

The paintings told a story with each new picture, a story of this young man making his way through a dark and scary place filled with paintings and headless mannequins that seemed to chase him wherever he went, much like her own story, except this was in picture form.

When she had finished examining this particular painting, her eyes caught sight of a very interesting painting, which was different as compared to the rest of the paintings she had seen. She slowly walked over to it, the painting was a blank black canvas, framed with gold and intricate patterned wood.

Below the painting there was a nameplate stating the title, " **Mary's Revenge**."

* * *

**Garry's POV**

Garry sighed exasperatedly as he got out of his car, yawning. He was unable to sleep last night due to Max bringing in his friends for a last minute sleepover slumber party, which without doubt, caused a lot of noise. It was only about 3 am when they finally settled down in their own sleeping bag and quietened down to whispers as they fell asleep.

With just a few steps, Garry made it to the gallery entrance, where he braced himself for another usual assault of lack of personal space. He sighed, "just another week of this and I can be free to paint new pictures," he thought to himself. The receptionist recognized him and gave him instant access.

However, instead of the usual crowd of people gathering around him with a mountain of autographs to be sign and questions to be answered, he found that most of the patrons were minding their own business as they looked at his artworks at their own pace.

He sighed happily, relieved that he didn't have to deal with tons of questions for the day for once ever since he opened up the exhibition. He decided to walk around to examine if there was any damage done to his paintings instead for the day.

Upon finishing most of the second floor, he was about to turn a corner he hadn't inspected yet, only to see an unfamiliar painting on the wall. "What is this...?" He muttered, examining it.

It was a long and black painting with nothing else on it. "Have I ever painted this before?" He questioned himself. He was about to turn and ask a staff where that painting come from when he spotted a girl walking towards the same painting dreamily, almost as if in a trance.

He stared as the girl examined the blank painting and read the nameplate softly to herself. After a few moments, he realized who the girl was. "I-IB?!" He loudly exclaimed.

The girl turned to face him with a startled expression. Garry blushed with embarrassment as he realized that he had attracted attention to himself. "Oh um sorry, you look like that author...you know...the bestseller author..." He muttered.

"Oh...Yeah...I am Ib." She replied with a slight smile. "Who are you? I feel like I've seen you before."

"What? Oh um I'm Garry...I'm the artists of all the artworks you see here, except for this painting over here. I don't know how this got here." Garry replied as he pointed towards the painting that attracted both of their attentions.

"Ah...Maybe the staff made a mistake?" Ib suggested.

"Yeah I guess that's the only explanation, I'll go ask a staff member. See you later Ib," Garry smiled and turned around, but suddenly stopped, "I liked your book. It gives me a certain feel of nostalgia. It has a similar story to my paintings." Garry complimented her without turning back.

Ib gasped softly at the sudden compliment and smiled with happiness. "Thank you Mister Garry. Your paintings are wonderful to look at." Ib replied politely.

Garry nodded, satisfied with his conversation with the young lady, he continued to walk off but then...

"Garry! Look out!" He heard Ib scream as he felt a force pushing him forward. He quickly spun himself to see what happened. Ib was being grabbed by small black hand-like objects that came out from the painting.

"What the-?!" He exclaimed, dumbfounded as Ib struggled to be free. Immediately, Garry sprung to her rescue, trying to free the hands from Ib as they dragged her into the painting.

"Garry let go! They'll drag you in too!" She shouted.

"No!" Garry responded fiercely, "I refuse to let you get taken by these things! What is even going on anyway?!"

"Garry! Don't be stubborn let go!" Ib scolded angrily. But it was too late, both of them had been dragged into the painting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well~ Cliffhanger ending! Like it? XD Review please!
> 
> If you see any mistakes, or would like to suggest something. Go ahead :D I accept suggestions and requests~
> 
> By the way, in the next few chapters, I might make short chapters as I want to let you guys have a chance to try out the puzzles I'll write in this story (If i still intend on doing those) . Don't worry, I'll continue to the next point in about 3 days so it won't take long for the answer to be out.
> 
> So, since I am having my exams soon, I decided to write an extra long chapter today to make up for the time where this story won't be updated, it's just three weeks or so, so...don't fret!
> 
> Crediting ahead for helping in my puzzles: Yukki, my best friend who has really given me lots of support, without you, I wouldn't even have the courage to be typing this out in fanfiction. Without you, any idea I had in my head would have remained as a notepad in my laptop and be lost when I lost this laptop. And of course, without you, all those fun we had and jokes we made, wouldn't have existed. Thanks for being my friend!
> 
> And An! Although you didn't help in this story, you played a part in the fun and jokes, as well as building up my courage for this. Thanks too!
> 
> Andddddddddd of course I have to thank my loyal supporter! Seriously thanks a lot! Your reviews make me so happy :D
> 
> TBC~


	4. Alice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo! CHAPTER 4! OMG! YAY! HAHAHA!
> 
> Garry: What the heck happened to you?!
> 
> Me: I finished my exams!
> 
> Ib: Oh! How did you do on it?
> 
> Me: ...the usual...*depressing tone*
> 
> Ib and Garry: ...
> 
> Me: ...um...I own nothing as usual...or like mentioned in previous chapter, I'll humiliate Garry.
> 
> Garry: Like I said, why?!
> 
> Me: *Ignores him* By the way, the previous chapter's title was, "Mary's Revenge". Not very original huh?

 

* * *

**Chapter 4 - Alice**

**Garry's POV**

As Garry slowly got up from the spot on the ground he was lying on, he tried to assess where he was now and what condition his body was in. Except for a dull pain on his abdomen, he couldn't feel any other pain on his body, which was good.

He slowly stood up, feeling slightly groggy probably because he hit his head as he landed. He was currently in a plain grey room with nothing but a table that had a vase in it, as well as a note beside it.

"Be prepared. This is your end." Was written in a messily almost illegible on the note. Garry could not understand the reason for this note. "Where am I...?" He muttered.

Looking inside the vase, he noticed there was a navy blue rose with a few petals on it. It was a beautiful rose that let out a strong sweet smelling scent. The rose looked flawless, with no signs of wilting or rotting soon. He carefully picked the rose out of the vase, noting the fact that it had no thorns, and kept it in his jacket's pocket, as if he knew that it was an important item that could not be lost.

"Wait...how...how did I know that?" He thought in his mind. Suddenly flashes of his dreams came back to him. "Are you telling me those dreams were real?!" He absentmindedly shouted. "Then that must mean..." Suddenly, he remembered Ib was dragged into the painting with him, "Ib! Are you here?!" He looked around but found no one. "I hope she's safe..." He muttered to himself as he hastily exited the room, only to be greeted with a crying young girl.

The girl was crouching against the wall as she brought her knees to hide her sobbing face. Her shoulders jerked with the sudden movement of her breaths as she sobbed pitifully. "Big sis..." She continuously muttered as she cried.

"Um...are you alright...?" Garry asked as he carefully approached the girl. He was wary of this girl in case she was there to hurt him, but seeing her pitiful state made him feel guilty for such a thought. She looked about the age of 10, with her hair being a very pretty shade of dark brown. From what he could see, he saw that she was wearing a white long sleeve shirt up to her hips, where a brown beautifully decorated belt was, just below that, she wore a mini orange skirt that matched her small bag. Her shoes were simply flats that were made out of satin silk, like most of her clothes were and her hair was tied up in a matching orange ribbon, but even so, it reached to her knees.

The young girl lifted her face away from her knees, squinting her swollen eyes from the crying as she examined Garry. "Are you here to kill me too?" She asked softly. "If you are...please get it over with..." She begged, standing up and leaving herself completely unguarded as spread her arms in front of her and closed her dark brown eyes willing her end to come soon and painlessly. And as she did, Garry could see the necklace that hung loosely on her neck. It was a bright red crystal shaped accessory attached to a black thin yet durable woven rope.

Garry's heart ached at the sight. He took large steps to cover the distance between them, crouched down to her height, and finally wrapped his arms around her protectively. "You must've been through a lot... Don't worry, I'll help you get out of here..." He softly whispered as he stroked her hair gently, coaxing her to feel safe. He felt slightly nostalgic doing this, probably because he'd done this countless times for Leanne and Max, but he felt that his siblings weren't the only reasons.

The girl responded by sobbing into his shoulder. "I was so scared! There were hands that dragged me into a painting...! And no matter how loud I shouted, no one could see that! And then...when I arrived...some headless thing started to chase me! But instead of grabbing me, it grabbed this rose I found and started to pluck the petals off, it made me hurt so I quickly took the rose away but...but it was so scary! I thought I going to die! I barely escaped that monster!" The girl let out in a hurried tone as she let out all her fears to the stranger.

"You did well miss...you did well..." Garry hushed the girl as he continued to pat her gently. "You're safe now...As long as I'm with you, I won't let anything bad happen, okay?" He smiled gently at her as he pulled away from her to wipe her tears away with his hands. "Sorry, I don't have a napkin to offer you...would you like to use my jacket instead?" He offered kindly.

"No...it's okay...I'm sorry, I must have troubled you with my sobbing." The girl softly whispered with a hoarse voice as she rubbed the tears away with the ends of her sleeves. "My name is Alice...who are you?"

"I'm Garry. I was the one who made this exhibition, but who knew it would lead to this wretched place...Well anyway, just call me Garry okay?" Garry smiled at her and patted her head affectionately. "How old are you by the way?" He asked in curiosity.

* * *

**Alice's POV**

"I turned 10 yesterday." She replied as she took her rose and showed it to Garry. "Is there anyway to turn this back to normal?" She asked as she studied the stranger. He was wearing a black jacket that he tied around his waist, as well as a black turtle neck sleeveless shirt and a simple necklace. His hair was unkempt and a weird mixture of dark and light purple, almost touching his shoulders.  _"What a strange sense of fashion. He looks very, very suspicious. Kind of like the villain you'd find in a movie."_ She thought to herself.

"Yeah. Follow me." Garry led Alice to the vase where he found his rose and gently put the Alice's pure white rose in, letting the rose absorb the remaining water left in the vase as it rejuvenated itself back into the perfectly flawless rose it was meant to be.

"Pure white, huh? That's a nice color. Keep it safe with you at all times, okay?" Garry complimented her rose as he gave the rose back to her. Alice lightly blushed at the compliment, as if the compliment was for her and not for the rose. "Thank you...By the way, you seem to know a lot about this place..." Alice lightly accused the kind stranger.

Garry chuckled grimly, "I've been here once, ten years ago...and I only barely escaped out of it. Now I'm here again." He explained.

"I see..." Alice accepted his reasoning. If this man had come to harm her, he would've done it earlier. But instead of that, he was comforting her and healing her rose, which in turn made her feel refreshed. Obviously, this man had no intention of physically harming her, but whether he had other hidden intentions...well...she'd have to wait and see. Not that her innocent and naive mind was thinking of any of that now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for chapter 4~ More to come soon...
> 
> Garry: Innocent and Naive?! Are you trying to make me a pedophile in this story?!
> 
> Me: Maybe...
> 
> Alice: Pedo...phile? What's that?
> 
> Me: It means-
> 
> Garry: NO! SHH! SHE DOESN'T NEED TO KNOW!
> 
> Me: *Eyes him with a smirk* It doesn't mean anything good.
> 
> Alice: Th-then Garry is a bad guy?! *Backs away from him*
> 
> Me: Maybe... *Shrugs* Thanks for all the reviews and support~ This chapter's kinda short...I promise the next will be longer!
> 
> TBC!


	5. Fallen Angel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I reread one of my friend's fanfics, and it demoralized me extremely just by seeing the number of reviews, favourites and follows. I had originally created this account to surpass her. But it looks like I'll still have a long way before that.
> 
> SO! Until then, and even after that, look forward to all the stories I(and Yukki and/or An) come up with!~
> 
> Btw...really sorry about cliffhangers... OwO I tend to end stories like that often.(That's why I rarely solo through a story)

 

* * *

**Chapter 5 - Fallen Angel**

**Garry/Alice POV**

Garry smiled at Alice as he returned the rose to her. "There, all healed up!" He smiled warmly at her. She accepted the rose gratefully and kept it in her bag. The two of them had been walking for quite a distance now, only coming across lifeless paintings that didn't chase them and one "Lady in Red" that chased them for a long time(Since there were no doors to go through).

"So..." Garry began, hesitant to start a conversation with the young girl as he was afraid to scare her away. "Did you come to the exhibition alone?" He asked the first thing that came to his mind as the two continued walking.

"No, Father brought me here because he said my sister wanted to come here to celebrate. Since some considerable time passed before we arrived, we thought we'd find them on the second floor, but then that painting grabbed me suddenly and..." Alice dropped whatever words she wanted to say, leaving her sentence hanging in the air as she didn't want to think about the atrocious painting again.

Garry understood her, he did not push her further on the subject, instead, he tried to distract her with the first question he had in mind, "D-do you like your sister?" He stuttered, feeling flustered that he had brought up such a sensitive subject, and he wasn't sure if this question wouldn't worsen the situation.

"Yes! I love her very much! She's a nice big sister, and she gives me lots of presents and sweets and she's so wonderful and pretty and so mature and and-!" Alice went on and on for the next few corridors about her sister. Garry sweat dropped in relief, " _Thank goodness..._ " He thought.

"What about you Garry? Do you have any siblings?" Alice asked with curiosity when she was done complementing and praising her sister's good qualities.

Garry nodded, "Um, yeah. A step sister and half sibling..." He muttered.

"Step sister...?" Alice gasped. "Is she a very mean sister like in Cinderella?! Does she make you do housework like a servant?! And what is a half sibling?" Alice asked innocently.

"What? No! No Leanne does nothing of the sort!" Garry waved his hands in front of him as if that could dismiss the thought, "Leanne's pretty much the role model of the entire family...she's smart, beautiful, has good morals, well...she's good in almost everything." Garry said with admiration. "Except being less violent and more feminine." Garry added in abruptly.

Alice stared at Garry with curiosity and admiration dancing in her eyes. "She sounds like my sister, except for that last bit." Alice commented, "What is a half sibling though? You haven't answered me."

"Ah that, it just means that I have a sibling who has one of the same parents as me, and the other from another parent." Garry explained in the best way he could, trying not to confuse her. Judging by Alice's face, he knew he had failed. "Um, it's like...he has the same mother as me, but a different father."

Alice's eyes lit up with comprehension. "Oh! So...so that's what a half sibling is? Isn't it almost the same as a step sibling?"

"Well, it isn't really considered the same under the dictionary." Garry explained with a smile. He looked around his surroundings while he had talked with Alice the entire time, he noted most of the paintings were giving off the exact simple yet creepy feeling each Guertena painting gave, however, he had seen none of this in his previous visit, and he was sure he had never walked through such a corridor in the gallery.

"Garry! Look!" Alice exclaimed, tugging onto the sleeve of Garry's jacket as she excitedly pointed at a painting. "Isn't this painting beautiful?!" The painting Alice had pointed was of an Angel, a beautiful Angel without flaws, beaming at them with a gentle and kind smile. Or at least that was what Alice saw...

What Garry saw was an Angel crying in pain as she held her throat tightly, almost as if she was choking on something. The red ominous background added to the creepiness of the painting, it looked like someone was burning the angel. Garry looked at the nameplate and cringed, "Fallen Angel." He whispered it's name out.

"What? How is this a fallen angel? She doesn't have black wings!" Alice tried to argue with Garry childishly, not knowing that the painting was in fact not as beautiful as she thought. Garry started to worry about Alice, either this girl had really weird tastes in her paintings or she was seeing things.

"Well it's just the title, let's go." He grabbed Alice's hand and started to drag her away from the painting.

"Why are you so scared of that painting?" Alice asked in an irritated tone, trying to agitate Garry back. She was enjoying the serenity of the painting and this man  _just had_  to pull her away from it.

"No reason," Garry let go of Alice, "let's find a place to rest and call it a day, it's been a really exhausting day hasn't it?" Garry asked without turning back to face Alice as he cautiously opened a door to check it's inside. "This room looks safe. It's void of any paintings or statues so nothing should be able to attack us here...Let's rest here."

Alice pouted at being ignored, Garry had decided to take a break without her consent. Alice had no choice but to follow behind him as she didn't want to be alone in this life endangering twisted gallery. "Garry, you mentioned that you were here ten years ago weren't you? What exactly is this place?" Alice asked as she sat on the ground, making herself as comfortable as possible.

"I don't know." Garry replied simply. Alice looked at him with suspicion. "I was pulled in here abruptly, like you were." Garry explained.

"So...you have no idea what this place is, or why the paintings and statues are moving, or why they are chasing us?" Alice asked, she had little hope that there were going to be answers.

Garry sighed, "I read something in this gallery ten years ago that leads me to assume this is the world of Guertena's works. I don't know how the status and paintings move, but they probably chase us for our roses. Since they are literally objects that aren't supposed to have life, I guess they're yearning for something with life." He explained his theory.

"Sounds so complicated." Alice pouted, barely able to understand a single word of what he said. Garry laughed nervously, "Um... nevermind, let's take a break. I'm tired." Alice nodded, and soon enough, the two of them were sleeping, one leaning against the wall, the other on the floor.

* * *

_Pant...pant..._

_The sounds of my footsteps echoed through the corridor as I ran. Wait- what was I running from?_

_I turned back to look, and screamed unwillingly, "They're getting closer!" I thought in my head as I felt my heartbeat pick up the pace, my legs felt as if it moved faster, no, it **had**  to move faster._

_"Ah!" I screamed, tripping over a hand that reached out to grab me from nowhere, nearly falling over but quickly gaining my balance. The rose I picked up a few minutes ago dropped to the ground. The hand immediately let me go in exchange for the rose._

_And it began plucking out the petals slowly..._

_"Wh-what?!" I screamed, feeling a cut run through my arm the moment the petal was torn. "S-stop that"! I tried to pry the stone hands out of the rose. For some reason, I knew I had to get this rose back no matter what._

_"Let go you...thing!" I screamed, using all of my strength to pull the rose away. "Yes!" I cheered, but when I heard hollow footsteps coming towards my direction, I knew those things had caught up to me._

_What exactly are those things, and why are they chasing after me?! I screamed in my head. If I looked back now, I would surely see them again. Headless Mannequins, Bodiless Heads with bloodied tears and Women whose lower halves were still trapped in a frame._

_I quickly ran towards the opposite direction, turning round a corner and nearly slammed myself into a door, it was a good thing I was looking where I ran or else I'd really had smacked myself face flat onto the door._

_"BAM!" The door resounded loudly as I slammed the door shut on the other side, pressing all my entire weight on the door as if that would help keep them away. "Please...please go away! I did nothing wrong! Why are you chasing me?!" I cried._

_I don't know if they heard my cries or they just gave up, the pounding on the door made by them stopped. I sighed in relief wiping all my tears. I slumped myself against the door, not caring if my hair was messed up by that action. "Sis...where are you?" I sobbed, breaking down into tears as I curled into a ball, trying to comfort myself in the thought that my sister would find me. She **had**  to find me._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Malin: "Let go you...thing!" pfft hahahaha!
> 
> Alice: What is so funny about that?
> 
> Malin: It's just...funny! Haha!
> 
> Garry: C-calm down...
> 
> Malin: Well anyway I wrote about half this chapter while I was lying face flat on the bed, so I wasn't looking as I typed, so any grammatical mistakes or spelling errors notice are appreciated! Suggestions, reviews, requests also welcome~
> 
> Ib: H-how did you type without looking?! Why are you doing that anyway?!
> 
> Malin: Man, that question is getting old...And I couldn't sleep, so I had to do something to sleep...and it helped, somewhat...Umm for those are confused, that last italic bit is Alice's nightmare about entering the gallery.
> 
> To be Continued~


	6. Connections

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing but my plot? Yeah, and the original characters.
> 
> By the way, I LOVE YOU GUYS! X3
> 
> Garry: That was so random...
> 
> Malin: Shut up, go to that corner, and bang your head on it 1000 times.
> 
> Garry: What?! Why?
> 
> Malin: For not appreciating my love =w=
> 
> Alice: *Does what I asked Garry to do*
> 
> Malin: Alice...? What are you doing?
> 
> Alice: I'm doing Garry's punishment in his stead, why?
> 
> Malin: Stop it OwO

 

* * *

**Chapter 6 - Connections**

"Alice! Alice are you okay?!" Garry screamed, holding onto Alice's shoulders as he shook her violently.

"Wh-what?!" She asked, feeling slightly panicked at Garry's actions, had something happened while they were asleep?

"Alice! Thank god you're okay!" Garry sighed in relief as he smiled at her.

"What is it?" Alice asked in confusion.

Garry laughed at himself, "Nothing really, you were crying in your sleep so I thought something was happening to you. But you look fine, you're not hurt anywhere are you?"

She shook her head. "But it did feel like I was going through something scary."

"Maybe it was just a nightmare." He smiled reassuringly, giving her a gentle pat on the head.

Alice tried to smile, "Okay!" They helped each other to stand up, "Are you feeling rested? If yes, let's move on. The longer we stay, the more this place will affect us." Garry asked with a smile.

"Sure but um...I was wondering, since these vases we find can heal our roses, can't we bring the vases along?" Alice asked innocently.

"Well...there's a limited amount of water in the vase isn't there? And believe me I've tried it before...The vases are cleverly glued to the table." He replied with a scowl.

"Oh...Let's go then!" Alice replied happily, well as happily as she could, considering they were going to let make themselves prey to the gallery's inhabitants again.

* * *

**Ib's POV**

"They're chasing after me again! What did I do to deserve this?! Why do they want my rose so badly?! Can't you lifeless creeps find something else to play with?!" Ib thought in her mind as she ran away from a wave of things such as the inhabitants of the gallery chasing after her. She had woken up a few minutes ago to find herself in a dark room, with only one table holding a vase and the rose that she was clutching tightly to her chest now.

And before she knew it, the moment she took the rose, those things started coming after her. She had realized that this was the exact same place as the one in her dreams, but now was not the time to think about that. After a while of running, she came across a T-junction, the path split into two, one up ahead of her, and another on the left.

"This way!" She thought to herself as she turned left, following her instinct, which was a bad idea since another mob of inhabitants were coming from that direction too. She quickly turned back to only other way.

"UWAHHH! Wait-Who are you?!" A high pitched voice called from behind Ib.

"Huh?" Ib turned her head to look at the source of the voice. Her eyes found a small boy, around the age of 10 with strawberry blonde messy hair, as well as ebony black eyes staring at her curiously as he panted and ran along side with another girl who looked at least the age of 20 with similar blonde hair but sky blue eyes.

"Now's not the time for that!" The girl said as she grabbed onto the boy's and ib's hand, dragging them to run faster. A few yards ahead of themselves, they could see a door.

"Please tell me it's not locked..." The girl murmured as she reached the door, and quickly turned the knob, "GET IN! HURRY!" She shouted, pushing the boy and Ib inside before she slammed the door and leaned against it.

When the banging of the inhabitants stopped, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed on the ground.

"So... who are you?" The girl asked, eyeing Ib suspiciously.

"My name is Ib..." Ib replied in between pants and held out her hand for a handshake. "It is a pleasure to meet you..."

The girl eyes Ib suspiciously, before she smiled and took her hand, shaking it firmly, "I am Leanne, and this is my brother, Max."

"Hello Ib!" Max cheerfully smiled at her. Ib smiled back, "Hello Max." She replied, noting that Leanne was clutching onto an Orange and another Lavender rose. "Are those yours?" She asked.

"Hm?" She followed Ib's line of sight to the roses she held. "Oh...yes! I found these when we woke up in this...place..." Leanne replied, shuddering. "What are these for anyway?" She asked.

Ib hesitated on replying. "They're...what represents your life in this place." She explained.

Leanne and Max's confused face told her she needed to be more detailed, "Well, if you lose any petal on your rose, wounds will appear on you, or you'll just feel pain. So...I've never seen it happen before, but if you lose all the petals on your rose, I'm presuming your life will end." She explained.

Max's eyes started to water, he sniffed, holding back his tears by trying to blink them back. "W-will we die here?"

Leanne and Ib gasped. "Max, don't cry..." Leanne moved over to Max and gave him a tight hug, patting his back gently. "We'll get out of here...I promise!"

Ib watched the sight with a slight smile while her heart felt like it could've been ripped apart at this very moment. She remembered such a thing had happened to her before...where did this...

_"Ib, have you tried Macaroons before?" The young teenager turned to look at her with a questioning glance._

_"Macaroons...?"_

_"They're these round hamburger shaped pastries! If we get out of here, how about I bring you over to my favourite cafe?" The man smiled before he corrected himself, "No! We will get out of here! I promise!"_

Ib gasped at the memory, "Wasn't that...wasn't that a part of my dream? Does that mean..." She thought in her head. "Come to think of it, how did I know the roses represented our lives? Have I gone through this before...?" She contemplated.

"Miss Ib?" A mature voice snapped her out of her reverie. "Are you alright? You look worried." Ib looked up to see Leanne waving a hand around her face.

"Y-yeah! I'm fine..." Ib replied, "Just thinking about some things."

"Oh, I see...By the way, are you by any chance Ib, the author of that best seller book?" Leanne asked with curiosity and excitement in her voice.

Ib nodded slowly, did that even matter now? Well, turns out she's about to be proven wrong.

"OH MY GOODNESS!" Leanne shouted, resisting the urge to just hug Ib there and now. "I am a big fan of you!"

"Um..." Ib gulped nervously, "Rather than fangirling, don't you think we should concentrate on getting out of here?"

Leanne blinked for a few moments before she laughed sheepishly and scratched the back of her head, "S-sorry about that...I just liked your work alot so..."

Ib sighed, "Well I'll forgive you, just don't do it again okay?"

"Ib?" Max stared at her curiously. "You're pretty..." He complimented her with an innocent smile. Ib blushed, she hadn't been expecting to hear that from him, well it's not that she wasn't pretty, it's just...who doesn't find a red-eyed person creepy? (A/N: No offence there Ib fans, just...well, it's a normal reaction right?)

"Thank you Max, you're a very charming young lad if I do say so myself..." Ib replied with a smile as she pat Max's head.

"You talk weird though..." Max's eyebrows furrowed as he was not used to such a complicated manner of speech.

Leanne immediately scolded Max, "Max! That was very rude! Say sorry to her now!"

Ib was about to stop Max from doing so but Max's reaction was immediate. "Well I'm sorry for being honest to her, violent big sis!" Max stuck out his tongue towards Leanne. Leanne felt herself heat up in anger and was about to say something else before she was interrupted by Ib's giggling.

"Oh." She stopped when she realised she was being stared at, "I'm sorry, don't let me interrupt your family squabbling. I was just thinking how close the two of you were."

"What? Us? Close?! You've gotta be kidding me!" Leanne blushed furiously as she folded her arms across her chest angrily. "This kid rarely ever listens to what I say, and he's too curious for his own good!"

"Hpmh! This violent sister of mine only cares about her books, her favourite authors and about my grades! And of course, being violent towards me and Garry!" Max retorted.

Ib's eyes widened, "Did you just mention Garry?" For some reason, her heart lurched when she heard the name. Wasn't that the name of the artist who made this exhibition? She thought. What do these people have to do with him?

"Yeah...Oh, that's right, we never did mention it but," Leanne smiled affectionately while she spoke, "Garry is our brother, and I'm very proud of his success."

Ib nodded with comprehension, "That explains things...so did you come here to visit his exhibition personally?"

"Yup! But never did we expect one of his paintings to drag us into it!" Max complained, his eyes were a mixture of despair and fear.

"Well, that's not his fault. And he said that he didn't paint that. Mary's revenge I mean." Ib explained.

"What exactly is this place anyway?" Leanne asked. Ib spent the next few minutes explaining as they sat together, getting to know about each other at the same time.

* * *

**Garry/Alice**

"The stars will lead your way..." Garry read out the note on the wall just beside a door. "I wonder if this is a sign of some kind..." Garry contemplated with a rather...interesting pose.

Alice held back her laughter, "Your posture is atrocious." She barely managed to stop herself from laughing, one of his hand was on his cheek while his elbow rested on his other hand, he crossed one leg over to the other side, making him look rather feminine, especially with his lean and skinny built.

"..." Garry did not reply at first, feeling slightly insulted, "Let's move on, shall we?" He replied, opening the door as cautiously as usual, his eyes met with pure darkness. He could not see anything at all.

Alice decided not to comment further, seeing as she had already insulted him, and that wasn't very acceptable in her society. "I'm sorry, I will watch my words from now on." She replied as she stood behind him, waiting for a sign to move in the room with him.

"You certainly do not talk like a eight year old would." Garry commented, he moved aside to let Alice look at the room.

"Really? I thought everyone talked like this. I'm just following what my private tutors taught me." She answered.

Garry's eyes widened in slight surprise, he had a suspicion going on in his head that this girl was of a rich family due to her clothing's materials and her posture in most of the things she did, but he did not expect her to be home schooled as well. "So you're a rich girl then?" He asked, he closed the door and looked at Alice.

"Rich?" Alice shrugged, "I don't know. Am I rich as compared to you?" She asked.

Garry nodded, "Seeing as you can afford such an expensive brand of clothes and bag." He answered. "We need to find some sort of lamp before we can continue further into that room."

"Yes, you're right." With that, the two of them searched for a source of light.

After some time of figuring out the puzzle, the two of them retrieved a key. They moved to where they had previously found a locked door, but then...

"Watch out!" Alice shouted as she pushed Garry, causing the both of them to hit the ground.

"Ow! What was that for?!" Garry asked angrily as he rubbed his head that ached from the impact with the ground. He looked at the wall, where a few black hands were reaching out for thin air. "Oh..."

"Are you okay?" Alice asked with a worried expression as she examined him physically. Garry looked unharmed as he smiled to reassure her, she smiled back and looked at the hands. "I remember these grabbing me..." She stated almost breaking into sobs.

"H-hey! D-don't cry!" Garry flusteredly tried to cheer her up. "I-I won't cry! Sis...sis told me not to cry in front of people, no matter who!" Alice stated with courage as she furiously wiped her tears away with her sleeve.

Garry sighed with relief, in his mind, he remembered when he first met Alice, who was then crying and almost ready to die. "What a noble and naive soul..." He thought in his mind as he helped Alice get up.

They tried to unlock the door with the key they found, but to their surprise, the door opened easily without the turning of the key as though it had never been locked in the first place. "Stange..." Garry commented as he proceeded, taking the key along as a precaution.

Alice frowned, "I wonder what this place was made for." She suddenly said.

"What do you mean?" Garry scrutinized her, noting that she was very disturbed by something.

"Well...people usually do things with reason right? So...maybe Guertena made this gallery to hid his most precious paintings!" Alice excitedly explained, "I mean, there's a lot of paintings we'd never seen before in this gallery right? And there's the fact the paintings that come to life all chase after intruders..."

"You...actually make some sense." Garry replied as he patted Alice's head in appraisal.

Alice smiled and giggled, "Maybe that's why most of the corridors look the same as well, like how a maze is designed to make you lost and give up halfway, especially since there's only one exit."

Garry closed his mouth, he wanted to say something that might crush the girl's hope. "There might be no exit in here." He silently spoke in his mind.

"...ry? Garry?!" A loud voice broke him out of his reverie, he looked down to see a worried Alice, tugging harshly onto his shirt as she tried to get his attention. "Garry are you okay?! You were...you didn't respond to me!" Alice nearly shouted as she tried to hold back her tears.

"A-ah Sorry! P-please don't cry! I was only lost in my thoughts!" Garry pleaded with Alice anxiously as he knelt down to her height and started wiping away her tears.

Alice gave a small nod as she wiped her own tears away with whatever cloth she had. "As long as you don't do that again...You're really okay right?" Alice asked worriedly, hoping that he'd not lie to her as most adults did, not that she'd notice until much later.

Garry gave an reassuring smile, "I'm fine, shall we move on?" He asked as he gestured towards the door, taking Alice's hand in his as he walked over to the door with his smile.

Upon opening the door, there was a silence as both of them registered the people in front of them that they recognized. "Leanne?! Max?!" Garry exclaimed as he saw the sight of both of them, a little tattered and slightly greasy looking.

"Garry!" Max shouted excitedly as he ran over and tackled Garry with as much force as he could muster, causing Garry to fall backwards, landing his butt on the hard ground painfully.

"Sis!" Alice cried as excitedly as Max, except she was also tearing up at the same time. She ran over to Ib and gave her a tight hug as she continued crying.

"A-Alice?! What are you doing here?!" Ib asked in shock as she bent down to receive her hug, quickly scanning her eyes over Alice's figure for any signs of obvious injury.

"I was looking everywhere for you...!" Alice explained in between sobs, she was barely intelligible, but Ib could understand at least half of what she said. "...Mary...you'll pay for this..." Ib thought in her mind, recalling the events of the gallery the first time she was here.

"I-Ib?! You're okay!" Garry, who was carrying Max in his arms, strode over to where Ib was sitting, "Thank god! I thought something might've happened to you when you were dragged here!"

"I'm not a nine year old anymore you know, Garry?" Ib smiled, for a moment, she forgot why she would've said such a thing, but started to giggle when she recalled the events of the gallery again.

"Ib? You know this weird man?" Alice pointed to Garry with a innocent and curious look like that of a child's.

Garry gulped at being called weird, not that he wasn't used to it. It just felt even more hurtful than usual coming from such an honest child. Ib gasped and quickly pushed Alice's hand down, "Alice! It's not polite to call people weird!" She scolded and turned to Garry, "Sorry about that...she's just a child, please don't hold it against her."

"Ah no it's okay...I'm used to being called weird anyway..." Garry muttered and looked away, trying to hide his depression.

"So!" Leanne interrupted the conversation as she patted Garry on the back comfortingly. "This girl is your sister?" Leanne asked as she smiled at Alice warmly, she searched her jeans pocket for a few moments before pulling out a variety of candies. "Want some?" She asked, bending down to talk to her on eye level.

"Me! I want some!" Max enthusiastically shouted, running over to Leanne's outstretched arm and snatching a candy greedily. Leanne glared at Max, "I didn't ask YOU, greedy boy. Now be a good boy and return that candy." She ordered Max with a strict tone.

"Hmph...!" Max pouted slightly as he put the candy back into Leanne's hand hesitantly. He stared longingly at the candy, then at Alice.

Alice caught the longing in his eyes, after a few moments of thinking, she walked over to Leanne's outstretched hand and took a few candies, putting it in Max's hands. "There's more than enough candy for all of us, why don't we split it evenly among ourselves? Then that'll be fair for everyone!" She smiled.

Garry's mouth gaped open, "Alice...YOU'RE SUCH A GOOD GIRL!" He accidentally shouted as he teared up, resisting the urge to pat Alice on the head to praise her further.

"Why are you the one crying?!" Leanne exasperatedly scolded.

"Well, I'm sure Garry's just a little bit too emotional today...!" Ib tried to cover up for Garry, not knowing why she was doing it herself.

Everyone turned to stare at Ib dumbfoundedly. "Y-yes...?" Ib asked, wishing the ground she was on would just have a hole in it that she could hide herself into.

"Garry...did you perhaps do ANYTHING to Miss Ib during your first journey in this gallery...HM?!" Leanne asked, suddenly appearing to be much scarier than ever, perhaps even more scarier than the inhabitants of the gallery.

"NOTHING! I DID NOTHING! I SWEAR! I PROMISE YOU I DID NOTHING ILLEGAL TO HER!" Garry anxiously defended himself, the tears that came out of his eyes were no longer ones of pride, but of fear.

"Oh really?!" Leanne asked once more for confirmation, after seeing Garry nod a huge number of times in the speed of light, she moved back to Alice and Max, holding out the candies once again.

"Uwah...My brother is such a creepy guy...I didn't know..." Max murmured, looking away from everyone else but not bothering to hide his sentence.

Garry slumped on the wall, feeling extremely hurt after being called weird by Alice and creepy by his own younger brother.

Ib started to giggle. Everyone else started at her for a few moments, before breaking into a burst of laughter. "Hehe...now that we've settled that Garry is weird and creepy, let's move on shall we? Staying around won't get us out after all!" Leanne lead the way with a optimistic smile, the rest follow suit, only Garry was sulking and mumbling as he followed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the holidays are coming, but don't expect any quick updates okay? I recently took on a (Part time) job, and I've not really...been mentally healthy But I'm improving, no worries.
> 
> Anyway, in this story, Ib and Garry made the promise but Ib never noticed the cut on his hand, thus she never gave him her handkerchief and she didn't think much about the lemon candy.
> 
> I don't really know how to talk like Ib or Garry, so they might sound ooc. BUT HEY, IT'S BEEN TEN YEARS. THINGS CHANGE, RIGHT?
> 
> As usual, any mistakes you can tell me and I'll edit, as well as suggestions, reviews and requests are welcome.
> 
> I guess I should say this too: JIN...WHY YOU END KAGEROU PROJECT SO FAST?!
> 
> To be continued~


	7. Ice Cold Revenge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm back after quite a long time...well you know? Work and stuff...School...bleh!  
> And there's the fact Facebook decided to delete my account because I broke their policy...*Sigh*
> 
> Disclaimer: If I owned something I wouldn't be writing fanfics of Ib now, would I?

 

* * *

**Chapter 7 - Ice Cold Revenge**

Leanne and the rest had been walking down a few corridors for quite a while. There wasn't anything interesting to look at, nor any paintings that were chasing the group, it was strangely a quiet and safe journey.

Max started to grow restless, "When are we going to stop walking?" He whined to Leanne. Leanne rolled her eyes, "When we find the exit, unless you want to be stuck here forever, be my guest!" She retorted.

Max scowled at her, he decided to focus his attention away from his tired legs and onto the rest of the group instead. Leanne was still leading the way, her eyes fiercely determined and alert for any signs of danger, darting left and right cautiously, even her body was very tense as she walked.

Ib and Garry were almost the same, although Ib was starting to show signs of fatigue and Garry was even more cautious than Leanne, nearly jumping at every sound and movement.

Alice, however, was very relaxed as she walked holding onto Ib's hand, as if she was in a zoo or some other family outing rather than in a twisted gallery where paintings and other things that shouldn't be able to move was chasing you for a stupid flower.

Alice caught Max's glance and smiled, letting go of Ib's hand(Which startled her, and in turn startled Garry) to walk side by side with Max. "Hello!" She chimed happily.

"Uhm...Hey!" Max replied back, feeling rather awkward in front of the cheery girl.

Her smile grew wider, "Why is everyone so tensed up?" She asked.

Max stared at her with wide eyes, "What do you mean why?"

"Eh?" Alice replied innocently.

Max turned to look at Ib hopefully. Ib chuckled softly, "Alice...you do realize we're no longer in your average gallery where we just walk around, look at the creations of the artist and leave, do you?"

Alice nodded. "But I don't see why everyone should be so tense, since we're here, and all of us are fine, why not let loose a little?"

Leanne stopped walking to stare at Alice. She seemed like she was going to scold the girl for being such a optimist, or maybe just being a plain idiot, but she remained silent as she glared at her.

Garry timidly ran to protect Alice, "She's right! We all need a break...especially you! Look at yourself." He gestured to her messed up hair, black eye bags and grumpy face combined with worry lines that weren't there before. Yup. She definitely needed a break.

Leanne sighed in defeat. "Fine... Let's find a room to rest in, wouldn't want to risk those freaks sneaking up on us after all..."

* * *

The group had a found a room and had taken turns in pairs to keep watch while the rest slept. Right now it was Garry and Alice's turn.

Garry sighed, thinking about all the events that happened since he was dragged back into this world. He didn't have to stop himself from nodding off, his head was a jumbled mess, and that was enough to fight back his heavy eyelids that threatened to never open once again every time he blinked.

"Are you okay?" Alice whispered to Garry.

"Huh?"

"You keep sighing, and you look really irritated." Alice pointed out.

Garry blinked, "Oh sorry about that, was I being annoying?" He asked.

"Not at all!" She replied cheerfully. Garry smiled in response, "What's that book about?" Garry pointed to the book in Alice's hands.

"Once upon a time!" Alice whispered excitedly as she read the book out, "There was a girl who followed a rabbit down a hole. The girl fell down the hole for a long, long, time. So long that she thought she would never land!"

Garry raised an eyebrow, "This girl has some serious storytelling skills..." He thought.

"But she did! And when she opened her eyes, she found herself in a strange world!" Alice suddenly stopped reading and slammed the book shut.

"What's wrong?"

"..." Alice gulped nervously and put the book where it belonged on the shelf. "That girl...sh-she...she never got out of that strange world. She died in the hands of the evil and unfair queen."

"Alice..." Garry gently patted her head, making her sniff slightly, "It's okay, I will make sure that we all don't end up like that girl! I definitely won't let anyone die, we'll get out of this all together! all in one perfect and unharmed piece!"

"And so will I." Leanne's voice shocked Garry, he was so busy trying to cheer Alice up he didn't realize he woke the rest of the group up.

Max was grinning at Alice, "Don't leave me out!"

Ib giggled, "Of course."

"Well, if we've rested enough let's get out already." Leanne muttered as she walked towards the door.

"I..." They all turned to look at Alice wiping away her tears with her sleeves. "I will definitely not allow anyone to die either!" She shouted with fierce determination.

Garry ruffled her hair gently, "That's a good girl!"

"Garry, please don't do anything that will make me think badly of you..." Leanne pleaded.

"Wh-what are you talking about?! Ib? Max? W-why are the two of you looking at me like that?"

"Eh? Uh um...let's go!" Max grabbed Alice's hand and led her towards the door, following Leanne's lead.

"H-hey! Don't leave me behind!" Garry called as he noticed that Ib had already left, leaving him to be alone in the room.

* * *

"H-hey!"

"Hey Leanne!" Garry screamed.

"What?!" Leanne snapped, turning to glare at Garry.

"Don't you think it's getting c-colder?" Garry shivered, pulling his black jacket closer to keep warm. The group had walked quite a distance with minor injuries along the way for quite a while now.

"Says the only one with a jacket!" Max complained, turning back to glare at Garry too.

"Well then what do you want me to do?! Split this jacket into 5 parts and hope that 1/5 of the jacket will warm all of us?!" Garry retorted.

Ib tried to chuckle, but it came off as sneezing.

"Ib are you okay? Do you want to borrow my jacket for a while? You look really pale compared to the rest of us." Garry asked with concern.

Ib shook her head with a smile, "I-I'm okay, j-just a little cold..." Her voice sounded shaky, probably due to her clattering teeth and shaking figure. Like Garry said, Ib's lips were almost a pale blue, her face looked flushed of any color but white.

"Maybe we should find a blanket and cuddle together! Like penguins!" Alice enthusiastically shouted, she didn't seem affected by the cold unlike the rest.

"That'd be helpful, if we were in a safe place. And I don't think a blanket will magically appear for us anyway..." Leanne muttered. "Wish it does."

"Maybe there's a genie to grant our wishes!" Max excitedly suggested.

Leanne whacked him, "Back to Earth, Max, or...whatever dimension this place is."

Max pouted, "Why can't I have just a moment of excitement and imagination you mean old hag!"

"Who're you calling a mean old hag you brat!" Leanne whacked Max again.

"Ouch!" Max shouted in pain, his hands flew to his arm, where Leanne had whacked him hard. "It hurts meanie!"

A gasp surprised us all. We look towards Ib, who stood there frozen in place, staring at the ground beneath her. Without us noticing, the ground had changed into ice and it was cracking under Ib's weight.

"Ib! Hurry and get out of there!" Garry screamed, careful not to move so as to not disturb the ice.

"I-I can't!" Ib shivered as she stared at the ground, too afraid to move.

"Hurry up Ib! It's going to break!" Leanne screamed, reaching her hand out towards Ib, "Quick! Grab my hand!"

Ib reached out for Leanne, she managed to catch hold of her as the ice cracked under her and forced her to fall into the water. Leanne held on tightly, preventing Ib from fully being submerged in the water.

"Ib!" Alice cried, reaching for Ib's other hand.

"Alice! Stay away! I don't want you to fall too!" Ib shouted, struggling to pull herself up onto the ice.

"Leanne! Hurry up! The ice is cracking under you too!" Garry screamed as he grabbed Alice and shoved her away from the cracking ice.

"Shut up and help you dimwit!" Leanne screamed. Garry reached for Ib's other hand and pulled her up.

Max grabbed onto the hand Garry was holding and tried to help. "Max what are you doing?! Get lost!" Leanne scolded.

Alice joined in helping Leanne, "But Ib is going down!" Alice screamed.

"I'll be fine! Just let go of me! There's something pulling me down. Hurry up and get away before you get pulled in too!" Ib screamed.

"No! I won't leave you!" Garry screamed as he pulled Ib harder. The ground under them started to crack further.

"God damn it!" Leanne screamed, she let go of Ib's hand and shoved Alice, Garry and Max away from Ib, causing Ib and Leanne herself to fall into the water, screaming.

"Ib! Leanne!" Garry screamed, he quickly got up from the ice and jumped into the water to save them.

Before Max or Alice got the chance to follow after Garry, the floor beneath them returned to normal, becoming once again concrete ground that was covered in a soft and deep red carpet. It was as if the events that happened a few minutes ago hadn't happened. The ice were all gone, including the sea and Ib, Garry and Leanne. The two of them were alone now.

Max walked to Alice hesitantly, staring at the spot the three of them fell into. He felt Alice's hand hold onto his shivering one. He looked up in surprise to see Alice shivered, scared, as she stared ahead. Her lips were quivering as her hand moved to point forward.

Max followed her hand, only to see a sinister looking man smiling smugly at them.

"That guy's a painting! I s-saw him...in one of mama's art books!" Alice exclaimed as she slowly backed away. Max started to back away from the man too. "Let's run." He whispered.

"But Ib..." Alice didn't have the chance to continue her sentence. The man had started running towards them.

The two of them turned back, screaming as they ran from the mysterious painting. Where had he come from? Why was he here? Was he the reason why the room turned into ice just now? These questions ran through Alice's head as she turned left and right into corridors while holding Max's hand tightly.

"Please don't let me lose max too..." She whispered to herself as she continued to run.

"Don't die." Max whispered back to Alice. "I don't know if Leanne and the rest are fine, I don't want to lose you either."

"I'll try my best!" Alice replied as she ran to a open door. She glanced through the room to check for any signs of danger, satisfied, she turned around to lock the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH. MY. GOD. I TOOK VERY LONG TO UPDATE THIS. I RAN OUT OF IDEAS AGAIN AND AGAIN AND THEN EXAMS CAME UP AND THEN FACEBOOK DELETED ME AND THEN I WAS GRIEVING AND THEN OOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH MY GOOOOOOOD EXAMSSSSSSSSS.
> 
> Alice: Malin...are you okay?
> 
> NOT OKAY.
> 
> Max: Take a chill pill or something you're creepy!
> 
> HOW CAN I. LOOK. GARRY IB AND LEANNE MIGHT DIE!
> 
> Max: DON'T YOU DARE KILL THEM
> 
> I DON'T KNOW IF I WILL MWAHAHAHHA!
> 
> Alice: She's...broken! QAQ
> 
> Max: QUICK! CALL AN AMBULANCE!
> 
> YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE! *SUDDENLY HAS A CHAINSAW*
> 
> Max: HOLY SHIT RUN!
> 
> THIS MIGHT BE CONTINUED IF HE LIVES.


	8. Continuously Spirited Away

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well hey! My exams aren't over yet, in fact, they're about to start soon so there's a lot of mock tests and prelims going on now. Weird that I decide to use this "extra free time given for me to study more" to write fanfics eh? But I can't help it...STUDYING IS BORING!
> 
> Ib: But...you have to do it!
> 
> Malin: But I'm getting headaches! The world is spinning from all the maths equations and formulas and scientific definitions!
> 
> Garry: Well...a break here and there should be fine!
> 
> Leanne: "Here and there"? She'll totally forget about studying once she starts writing!
> 
> Malin: That's not true! I get writer's block! I'll stop then!
> 
> Leanne: Pfft- right...where is Max and Alice anyway?
> 
> Garry: Um...
> 
> Ib: Garry?
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Ib! Now have fun reading, while I agonize over prelims!

* * *

**Chapter 8 - Continuously spirited away**

Alice and Max were leaning against the door they had just closed. Their breaths were uneven and labored from the running they had just done. The two of them were safe behind a locked door, their eyes could see nothing but a narrow corridor with just enough space for them. They couldn't see the end of the corridor from where they were. Alice slowly slumped to the ground, sobbing.

"Alice? What's wrong?" Max asked, kneeling down to where Alice sat, curled in a ball.

She wiped her tears away furiously. "It's nothing..." She sobbed. She didn't want to worry Max, especially since they were in both in a bad situation. They were alone and they would never know when danger would come.

"It's not nothing! You're crying!" Max searched for something he could use to wipe away Alice's tears, but came up with nothing, instead, his hands found a small pack of bubble gum. Inside it, there was 2 pieces of wrapped gum left. Max suddenly had an idea to cheer Alice up. He took one of it and offered it to Alice. "Here, eat this! It's a really fun thing Leanne gave me yesterday! It's called a bubble gum! You chew on it for a bit, then you bring it to the front of your teeth and hold it there while you blow it and it'll blow up like a balloon! Here, I'll show you." He unwrapped the candy quickly, throwing it into his mouth as he worked to chew the thing as fast as he could.

Alice stared at him in anticipation, she'd heard of bubble gum before, but had never had the chance to try it. She watched as Max chewed for a few more moments, before he pushed the gum to his lips and blew on it. The gum started to expand, it's red color becoming light pink as it expanded against Max's lips and burst on his face, sticking to his nose and cheeks. Alice burst out laughing at the silliness of it.

Max quickly took the gum off his face. "D-don't laugh! It happens!" He stuttered in embarrassment.

Alice tried to stop herself from laughing, she knew it was rude to laugh just because the gum burst and stuck on his face, but she found it funny as it was the first time she'd seen that happen. "I'm ahaha! s-sorry!" She tried to stop herself from laughing as she said that, but her laughs came out in small giggles, which sometimes escalated into maniacal laughter.

Max blushed, he wasn't used to being laughed at, but for some reason, instead of feeling anger, he felt happy to see her smile. He soon joined in the laughter, before he remembered that he had one more gum left. He took it out and put it in her hand. "Your turn!"

"Eh?" Alice stopped laughing, surprised. "I have to do it too?"

"Well...I won't force you if you don't want to, but it's fun! Trust me!" Max exclaimed. He watched her with excitement as she hesitantly unwrapped the candy and put it in her mouth, chewing on it slowing while she savored the sweet taste of the strawberry gum.

"It's sweet...and hard." Alice commented with the gum in her mouth, slightly muffling her words.

"Blow it!" Max encouraged.

Alice looked at him uncertainly, did she really have to do this? She tried to blow on the gum to make it into a bubble like Max did, but instead it flew out of her mouth and stuck itself to the wall.

Max burst out laughing while Alice turned beet red in embarrassment. "I...I didn't know how to blow a bubble gum! You can't blame me!" She let out a high pitch wail, feeling ashamed at having blown the entire gum out of her mouth instead of blowing a bubble.

Max stopped laughing, he pat Alice's head as he helped her up. "That's okay, I'll teach you again when we get out of here! I'll make sure to buy lots of gum so it wouldn't matter how many gum you blow out of your mouth!"

Alice pouted, feeling humiliated but full of joy at the same time. She felt like she had been rejuvenated by Max. "Then we both have to get out of here together! With Ib, Leanne and Garry too! Otherwise, you can't teach me!"

Max nodded. "Let's go!"

* * *

Leanne awoke feeling numb all over. She couldn't move any part of her body. She was only aware of a cold and heavy sensation enveloping her body. Her ears could hear nothing but the rush of water as it covered her ears.

 _What happened?_  She tried to speak, but instead of sound coming out of her mouth, water rushed into her mouth, choking her lungs and taking her breath away. She forced her eyes open in shock, taking only darkness as she struggled to move her arms so that she could get to somewhere where she could breath.

 _Somebody...help me...!_  She prayed. She didn't believe there was a god, especially not in this dimension, but she was desperate, she was starting to see weird lights dance in her vision as she attempted to escape the water prison she woke in.

_Garry...Max..._

_Please, be safe._

* * *

Hearing the sound of his voice, Garry awoke choking the water that got into his nose and mouth out, blinking the salt water away from his eyes. He felt his clothes stick on his skin like a second layer of skin, dripping wet onto the floor. He looked around, Ib was peering at him with relief.

"Ib?" Garry's voice came out in a hoarse whisper. "What happened? Where's Leanne?" He coughed, trying to get as much salt water out of his nose and mouth as he could.

Ib shook her head. "I don't know. I just woke up here and you were beside me. Are you okay? You don't sound good." Ib asked in concern.

Garry nodded with a slight smile. "I'm fine. You're shivering though..."

"I'll be okay. Let's find the rest, I'm worried...I have a feeling something bad's going to happen." Ib murmured, not meeting the eyes of Garry.

Garry gulped. "Agreed." He stood up, helping Ib along the way, and took a look around. They were in the familiar corridors of the twisted gallery, everything was the same as the other corridors, except for the floor. The floor was sandy, slightly damp due to Ib and Garry's clothes dripping water on the sand. Behind them was a wall that was painted with two different blues, the top half had a light blue that seemed the represent the sky as white patches of paint were present. The bottom half was a dark blue, it looked like the sea with the little bit of white on the tips of the waves.

"This may sound weird but...do you think...just maybe, after we were dragged under the ice bergs, we drifted to this um...shore?" Ib hesitated on the last word. She wasn't sure what to call this area they were in, especially since the 'sea' of the shore she was talking about was just a painting on the wall.

Garry snorted, "I wouldn't be surprised. Wait, that reminds me, you said something was pulling you under?"

Ib paused to think before replying. "Yes..." She nodded slowly, "There was something gripping my ankles tightly. I don't know what it was though."

He frowned, the only known enemies of this gallery was the moving paintings and statues, and of course, Mary. Was there a new threat? Were there new pieces of art that could move?

"Garry? Are you okay?" Ib whispered with concern on her face.

He snapped out of his thoughts, "Yeah. I'm fine. Let's go."

Ib frowned. "Let me look at your rose, you don't look okay."

Garry reluctantly took out his rose and showed it to Ib. It was starting to wilt, having lost about half of its petals. "I'll be okay. Where's yours?"

"Here." Ib took out her rose, it was in a condition similar to Garry's. "I hope we can find a vase somewhere..."

Garry sighed, keeping his rose safe into the pocket of his jacket once more. "This brings back memories doesn't it?" He joked sarcastically.

Ib giggled, "It sure does. But it's not just the two of us anymore."

"You're right. We better move." Garry started to walk briskly, down the dimly lit corridor with Ib following closely behind him, wary of surprise attacks as they silently marched on to find their loved ones.

* * *

Max stopped walking, he turned around, scanning the corridor they had just walked past quickly.

"Max?" Alice whispered for fear he might have heard someone approaching them.

"I...I felt like I heard Leanne call for me." Max muttered, he avoided looking at Alice as he mentioned Leanne, he missed her. Leanne often hits him, but he still loves her as a sister, she taught him many things and always did her best to keep him and Garry safe from any harm. She was important to him, he could not afford to lose her.

He felt something tightly hold onto his hand. Max looked down to see Alice gripping onto his hands. "We'll find them." Alice smiled confidently, there was not even a hint of uncertainty.

"You're...right! We have to! There's no other way!" Max started to smile again as he shouted enthusiastically.

"Yes!" Alice giggled at Max's excitement. They continued to walk through the corridor, searching for Leanne, Garry and Ib with no clues as to where they were. They were in front of a door now, where a note was pasted onto the side of it, low enough for the two of them to read without the help of an adult.

 _ **"There's no turning back."**_  Was written on the note.

"What does this mean?" Max pondered.

Alice frowned, she had read a similar phrase several times in her books, and it never meant anything good. "I don't know, but I don't like it." She muttered, holding onto Max's hand tightly.

"It doesn't sound so good," Max agreed, "Let's be careful."

Alice nodded, following Max behind as he bravely turned the knob and continued on. It was dark in this room. They couldn't see anything except darkness. But they didn't have much to worry about, the corridor was narrow and straight, they could hardly move left or right. It was impossible to get lost.

They continued on for what seemed like forever, until Max heard a scream behind him. "Alice?!" He quickly turned around to find her, her hand had disappeared from his grip. "What the-?!" He cursed as he hit into a wall. "But how...how can this be?! We were just walking here...Alice...Alice where are you?!" He shouted desperately, but he could only hear the echo of his own voice.

"No...we promised to find them together...you can't leave me here..." Max muttered, feeling lost and alone. He felt like all hope was gone in this dark and empty space. He pounded desperately on the wall in front of him. "Alice?! Please, answer me!" He screamed.

No one answered.

"Alice...anyone...please..." He murmured, his knees gave way under his weight, causing it to hit the ground painfully, but Max barely registered the pain. His chest was hurting from the fear of being alone, the fear of never seeing the people he loved anymore. Was this his end? To die alone in a dark and deserted place, where no one could hear or see him?

Suddenly, the wall in front of him disappear, causing him to fall flat onto his face. He still could see nothing, but he started to feel hopeful, maybe Alice wasn't too far away, maybe he could still find her, and Garry and Leanne along the way. He knew there was no way he could be right, he didn't have a single clue where they were after all, but he knew he couldn't just sit there and wail, he had to do something.

He got up and walked blindly forward, calling out the names of the ones he were looking for.

* * *

"What the hell is the pass code?!" Garry cursed, pacing around the room in annoyance. They'd been led to this huge room with rows of bookshelves after bookshelves, a table with a few pieces of blank paper and one door, locked with a number pad. Without any idea as to what the password could be, the only clue they had was a note stuck onto the door they came from.

_The sea takes away life,_  
_The sun will give hope,_  
_Ignore the darkness,_  
_And you'll find your light._

Ib smiled with patience, "I'm sure we'll figure it out." She murmured, it took effort to speak now since her throat was so dry that every time she swallowed, it was like swallowing grains of sand down her windpipe.

Each time they pinned in the wrong password, a petal from their rose fell off. Ib was left with only two petals, while Garry had five. Ib had said that it was better for only one of them to take the damage while the other tried to figure out the pass code, but now that Ib was dying, Garry was the one taking the damage instead.

"We don't have enough lives, Ib. We've tried almost everything! The number of bookshelves, the number of books, the number of papers left on the table, hell, even the sum of all these items together!" Garry shouted, feeling irritated at the pass code. He hadn't meant to take his anger out on Ib, but when he watched her flinch at his voice, he bit his lip in regret and muttered a sorry.

They sat near the table in silence for awhile, tension hanging in the air. They were starting to lose hope that they could break the code.

Ib took a quick glance around the room again, noting for anything significant. There were a total of twenty bookshelves, eight rows in each bookshelf and a total of 800 books in the room, of which eleven had a blue cover, while eight had a red cover. There was only one book with a yellow cover, the rest of the books were in white.

The specially colored books were placed on separate stacks on the table, next to the five pieces of blank paper and two pens. These books were different from the white colored books not only because of the color difference, but because they had titles on it, except for the yellow one. All the books in the room were strangely blank, no matter which page you flipped to, you'd only see a blank white page.

Once again, except for the yellow one.

It looked like it was a blank book at first, but if you were to flip every page, you'd see that certain pages had letters on it. Ib and Garry had taken advantage of the papers they had to make notes.

_"Page 1 - I_  
_Page 5 - V_  
_Page 10 - X_  
_Page 50 - L_  
_Page 100 - C_  
_Page 500 - D_  
_Page 1000(Last page) - M_

_20 book shelves_  
_8 rows in each book shelves_  
_800 books_  
_11 blue_  
_8 red_  
_1 yellow_  
_780 white"_

Ib read the note silently. They'd tried a number of combinations with what they were given, but could come up with no right answer so far. Garry looked at the books with titles scornfully. "Stupid books. Stupid names." He cursed.

Ib stared at the books, she wondered why they'd been specially given titles.  
**"Mythical Creatures Tales**  
**Magic does exist!!**  
**Vanity, the Stone**  
**Lunatic Nights**  
**Invalid**  
**Interests taken to a higher level**  
**I, the Cursed**  
**Languages of the Past**  
**X marks the spot**  
**Lapis Lazuli**  
**Locked in"**  
She read all the titles with a  **red**  cover.

"All blanked out to give us hell." Garry muttered. Ib chuckled lightly, she continued to read the titles with a  **blue**  cover.  
**"Xylotomy**  
**Xylophone for dummies**  
**Xanthenes**  
**Xenia**  
**XXXX**  
**Victims of trauma**  
**Vanish**  
**Crystal Clear"**

Garry and Ib looked at each other, frowning. "We can't stay here forever reading empty books, Ib."

"I know." Ib nodded. "But what can we do? We can't find the answer."

Garry sighed, "We can't give up...not now...we don't know if they are safe."

"You're right." Ib muttered weakly, she didn't need him to say who they were, she knew.

They would have continued sitting in silence for a much longer time if they didn't hear the a door clicking open. Ib and Garry quickly got up from the chairs, ready to hide somewhere as they watched the door cautiously. It opened really slowly, as if time was being slowed down, to reveal a small hand, and then a head popped in, and caused them to gasp.

"Max?!" They shouted in surprise at the same time.

"Garry! Ib!" Max exclaimed, he pushed the door wide open and ran to Garry's open arms. "Garry! You're okay! Ib too! Wait...where's Leanne?"

"...We...We don't know." Ib replied, not meeting his eyes. "Where's Alice?" She asked, hoping to change the subject.

Max frowned, this time, he didn't look at her eyes. Garry peered suspiciously at Max. "Max? What happened?" He asked as he gently set Max down on a chair.

"I was with her, we were in a dark corridor, it was impossible to see anything, so we held hands. Then I suddenly heard her scream, so I turned around, and she was gone. Just like that." Max sniffed, letting out all the despair he felt when he lost sight of Alice.

Ib patted Max reassuringly, "We'll find Leanne and Alice. Don't worry."

* * *

"Oh don't worry...you will," A feminine voice muttered, chuckling softly as she watched the three through a window-like structure. "Don't you agree?  **Alice.** "

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What is with this super long chapter...?
> 
> Garry: I don't see why not, seeing as you're not going to have time to write for awhile.
> 
> Malin: Yeah but 3000+ words?! Holy crap that's the longest I've ever written.
> 
> Max: Well you had to describe the puzzle and all...
> 
> Malin: Right! Yes! Here's a puzzle for you guys! I won't release the answer till the next chapter so have fun figuring out the passcode! I tried to give clues and the puzzle 'pieces' without making the solution seem too obvious so I hope this is good enough? Feel free to write your answers on the reviews or through a message to me!
> 
> Leanne: Say, did I drown?
> 
> Malin: I don't know owo
> 
> Leanne: *Glares*
> 
> Malin: *Whistles innocently* To be continued~


	9. Resolved

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been a while since I updated.
> 
> No excuses to offer you!
> 
> If you want to know why though: (Feel free to just skip to the story)  
> 1) Writer's block (SO FEEL FREE TO SUGGEST/REQUEST ME IDEAS!)  
> 2) I have to juggle school and part time jobs during holidays so almost 100% no free time  
> 3) I had to deal with a personal issue outside of my net life. Had to decide between writing with a new account or continuing this from here.  
> 4) [For the YukkiMalin joint account] Yukki and I go to different schools now so we have less time to meet up, and because our school schedules are different, we have quite a hard time trying to find time to rp(which is how we write our stories) and even when we do have time, we end up either distracted or having no good ideas. AKA writer's block again.  
> 5) This story is the longest one I have and it has a lot of stuff going on at once so I end up forgetting some stuff. Which makes me have to read all over again. And by the time I'm done reading I'm like "What now?" *Writer's block again*
> 
> Final decision about problem no. 3? I DON'T CARE! I'M GOING TO KEEP WRITING HERE.
> 
> SO. I have no funny remarks here. pfft i'm sorry i'll think of something next chapter i promise.
> 
> Random A/N: Wow. I drag this story out a lot.
> 
> I'M SORRY. AND THANK YOU TO MY LOYAL READERS. IT'S BEEN....2(?) YEARS SINCE I STARTED THIS STORY...I'M SORRY.
> 
> Enjoy!

 

* * *

**Chapter 9 - Resolved**

"So...why do you two look so beat up? Did something happen?" Max asked, examining Ib and Garry.

Ib and Garry eyed each other and gesture Max to the door with the number pad.

"That f*cking door is locked by some passcode and we can't find any clues for the code!" Garry shrieked in frustration, "And what's worse is everytime you input the wrong passcode you lose a petal!"

"Garry..." Ib sighed, "Please calm down, maybe Max can figure something that we haven't figured out."

Max chuckled lightly at Garry's outburst. "Garry, you were never good at solving things right? Leanne said so!"

"What? T-that's not true! I can solve that cube puzzle thing...I think!" Garry stuttered.

"But you can't even remember what it's called?" Max taunted.

Garry choked, "T-that's not important right now! Q-quickly solve the damn puzzle!"

Ib watched Garry and Max's exchange tenderly, they looked like they were having fun. She suddenly missed Alice so much. As Garry explained what they've already tried to Max, Ib thought back to her first visit to this gallery, when she met Garry, Garry was a clumsy coward, but he taught her many things, like what a milk puzzle was. He wasn't very good with the puzzles, as Max had said though.

"Ib? Why're you smiling?" Max questioned.

"Huh? Oh um..." Ib blushed. "I was just thinking...about how Garry haven't changed in these ten years." She mumbled.

"Oh really?" Max eyed Garry, "So he hasn't grown up at all!"

"What?! That can't be right! I've gotten better in painting, um I'm taller than last time Ib! A-and I-.........well I still can't quit smoking..." Garry sighed.

"But we haven't seen you smoke even once while here." Ib remarked.

"I don't know where my lighter went. It disappeared when we got here. I can kind of guess why though."

"Why?" Max asked with innocence.

"We....burnt a painting here in our last visit." Ib quietly muttered.

"Oh. Oh that's right the puzzle! Have you guys heard of Roman numbers?"

"Roman numbers?" Garry questioned.

"They're the numeric system used in ancient Rome, it consists of the Latin alphabet.......wait a minute you're saying...." Ib eyed the book titles and Max.

Garry thought about what the Roman numbers had to do with the password. Realization then dawned on him. "The titles are meant to be translated into numbers?!" he shouted.

"I guess so. If we haven't tried that let's do it. How do we know which number to use though?" Max asked, looking around. He spotted a note stuck onto a different door from the one with the code.

"The sea takes away life,  
The sun will give hope,  
Ignore the darkness  
And you'll find your light."

"That note was already there when we came in, it could've been the clue to this puzzle but..." Garry paused.

"But what?" Max questioned.

"Well we don't know what they meant when they said the sea takes life and the sun will give hope. It might have to do with the book cover's colors though." Ib explained.

Max nodded, he looked at the papers where Ib and Garry had scribbled notes. "I think we're supposed to add the numbers on the red covers, then minus the numbers on the blue covers...so that means, M+M+V+L+I+I+I+L+X+L+L-X-X-X-X-X-V-V-C" Max said thoughtfully as he wrote the numbers down.

"And then if we convert these letters into numbers you'd get, 1000+1000+5+50+1+1+1+50+10+50+50-10-10-10-10-10-5-5-100....and that adds up to 2058!" Max cheered.

"Let's try that now!" Garry rushed towards the door, Ib and Max followed behind excitedly. He input the numbers 2058 into the door.

There was a click somewhere. **(A/N: I'M JOKING!) (B/N: NO I STILL THINK IT'S FUNNY HOW USELESS GARRY IS XDDD)**

Max went up to try opening the door and when it opened, the trio looked at each other and cheered.

"YES IT'S OPEN!" Garry cheered loudly and hugged Ib. **(B/N: coughs)**

"Ehh?!" Ib exclaimed in shock.

"Oh um sorry!!!" He let go of Ib.

Max laughed, "Garry is creepy!!"

"No I'm not!" Garry retorted.

"Says the one who hugged Ib!"

"I-it's fine really! We-we were just really excited?" Ib tried to protect a now blushing Garry.

"Creepy Garry!" Max teased.

"Shut up!!!" Garry fought back, pinching Max's cheeks.

"Ugh! L-let me go creep!" Max cried.

Ib laughed as she watched them. It was a relief to see them get along so well despite the circumstances they were in. She suddenly felt so tired, almost as if she was going to just fall on the ground and-

"Ib!" Garry shrieked, catching Ib before she fell, "Ib what's wrong?"

"Just...tired..." Ib murmured, leaning her weight on Garry. Her legs weren't strong enough to hold herself up without any support. Her eyelids felt heavy and her head was pounding slightly.

"Max let's hurry and find a vase, I think her rose is dying." Garry said gravely as he shifted Ib's weight onto his back so that he piggy backed the now asleep Ib.

Max nodded, together, the three of them opened the door.

* * *

The corridor the door opened to was dark, lit only by small lamps on the walls. Garry gulped, "This is creepy..."

"You're creepy." Max replied.

"No I'm not!" He retorted. 

Max snorted in response. "How many petals do you and Ib have left?"

"Almost nothing." Garry grimly replied. "How about you?"

"It's fine, we got chased around but no one attacked us." Max replied, gulping as he remembered how he got separated from Alice.

"Max..."

"Wait-!" Max stopped walking when he heard the sound of footsteps approaching from a distance, adding to the unsettling feeling that had already fallen on them. Feeling cautious and afraid, Max moved to hide behind the wall as quietly as he could.

Unsure of what was going on, Garry stopped and moved towards the wall as well, gulping in nervous anticipation.

Max waited for the footsteps to come closer.... and closer... and closer... before he rushed out and surprised the offender with a jump and attempted to hold the stranger down. He quickly turned to look at Garry, "Hurry up and go with Ib! I'll try to hold them down!"

"Y-yea..........MAX. LOOK DOWN." Garry screamed.

"Huh? Down?"

That was when Max realized the stranger wasn't resisting, in fact, she was just lying down.

"ALICE?!" He screamed. Max scrambled back until his back hit the wall. "Wh-....I...I was um...uhh..."

Alice slowly got up, wincing from the pain of Max jumping on her. "I'm...okay. I think." She whispered, slowly sitting herself up.

"I'm sorry! I thought you were......those things." Max guiltily apologized, moving to help Alice stand.

"I'm okay, it doesn't hurt that much." Alice smiled. She turned to look at Garry and noticed that he was carrying Ib on his back. "Is sis okay?!" She asked, frantically running over to him.

"She's fine," Garry tried his best to smile reassuringly, "Her rose is wilting, so she's tired. That's all."

"What?! Let's hurry up and find a vase!" Alice grabbed hold of Garry's arm and started running forward.

"H-hold on I'll drop Ib if you keep pulling my arm-"

"Oh," Alice let go of his hand and slowed down, "Sorry." She mumbled an apology.

"It's fine." Garry smiled, "By the way, what happened after you got separated from Max?"

"Oh um..." She paused, "I woke up in a dark room. There was a door there so I walked out and came into this weird room with a weird looking thing inside. Behind that was another door, then I found you guys!"

"Weird looking thing?" Max questioned, what kind of thing?

Alice pondered on how to describe the strange object, but couldn't come up with the appropriate words. "Why don't I just bring you there?"

Garry gulped, "is...is it safe?"

"I think so!" Alice replied enthusiastically. "Come on, it's this way!"

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TBC!
> 
> Again, sorry for the delayed chapter. As you know my hiatus lasts forever and when you almost forget me I'm back.
> 
> Garry: For once, could you not be like that?
> 
> Malin: If only it was that easy ._.
> 
> Garry: What's so hard about updating your stories?
> 
> Malin: What's so hard about quitting smoking?
> 
> Garry: Uh....Um....I...uh....BYE!
> 
> Special thanks to~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 
> YUKKI
> 
> Because she's awesome and she contributes ideas.  
> And she's my beta reader.
> 
> AND to extremely loyal readers who's read my story from the moment I wrote it's prologue one-shot.
> 
> Also, what do you guys think of having multiple endings? Leave me a comment and let me know!


	10. Announcement

Hey!

Regardless if you're a new or old reader, I'm quite impressed you read this far.

Unfortunately, I have made a final decision to end this.

I don't have any excuse: I've been procrastinating this story and taking my life as priority instead.

Maybe you'd think that it's fine for me to take my time with the story, but during the gaps between chapters, a much more better and interesting idea struck me.

I then slowly lost interest in working on this one. Rather than force myself to finish this and create a horrible work, I thought it would be better for myself to drop this and start on the other idea instead.

**It didn't feel fair to leave this hanging for anyone who's still interested, so here's an official announcement that this story has reached an end.**

(I'm going to miss those amusing introduction and ending conversations I did with the characters)

 

For those curious what the rest of the story would be:

  * The gist was that Alice would reveal she talked to Mary and found out what happened (In memories crannies ending).
  * Mary then throws Alice back to Ib and Garry, hoping that Alice would be doubtful of Garry and betray him.
  * Alice does doubt Garry, but she doesn't betray him because she realizes that Ib needs him.
  * When Mary found out, she tried to take things into her own hands by wanting to kill Leanne in front of Garry, then leaving the gallery in Leanne's place
  * Alice offers to stay behind to be Mary's friend in exchange for everyone's safety, which stops Mary.
  * Of course everyone else disagree with Alice's idea but Alice refuses to leave, stating that she won't mind even if Mary decides to go outside in Alice's place.
  * Mary doesn't, and the rest leaves safely, bidding Alice goodbye. This time, they remember everything.
  * When they are back in the real world, they find themselves in Garry's exhibition.
  * Even though they tried looking everywhere, the painting "Mary's revenge" was no where to be found.
  * No new paintings were added, and none were missing. In other words, there is no proof that Alice and Mary exists in Garry's works of art.
  * Years later, Ib and Garry have collaborated to create a picture book that told the story of two young girls on an fantasy adventure. (And he stopped smoking)
  * After that both are shown attending Leanne's wedding, of which it will be hinted that Ib and Garry are an item (Married or not is up to speculation)
  * Max meanwhile doesn't attend the wedding. Ever since losing Alice, Max has lost some of his cheer and become sort of reclusive, even going as far so to study overseas and not contact anyone while there.



 

That's it.

Thank you for following my story all this while! Especially if you've read my story from the time I made that one-shot prologue!

For those interested in my new idea, it's unfortunately **not** going to be on Fanfiction or AO3. Neither will it be in Fictionpress.

It's not even going to be on a words-only medium. I haven't decided how exactly I want to tell this new story, but whatever it is, just know that I'm starting with zero knowledge of the field, (The only field I study is science. You can't tell a story using science as a medium.) so it will take me awhile before I can release this story.

The reason is because I've realized that typing my ideas out is difficult for me. I find that it limits my expression. I can't seem to get my ideas across properly in words, I can't get the emotions or feelings I want to show in words. And that's really important for this idea because this new idea revolves around EVERY character's feelings.

I'm not saying the story will be told without words, I'm just trying to say that words aren't sufficient enough.

Whatever the case, my username hasn't changed for years and it shouldn't change anytime soon, so when it's out, it should still be the same.

See ya!


End file.
